Inchoen: Rajiv Arokia today bagged a surprise bronze in men's 400m race in a personal best timing on the second day of the athletics competitions in the Asian Games here today.
Arokia clocked a creditable 45.92secs to better his earlier best of 46.13secs which he clocked at the National Inter-State Championships in Lucknow in June.
Arokia's effort today was the seventh best ever by an Indian. The national record in this event is in the name of K M Beenu with a timing of 45.48secs set in Athens in 2004 Olympics.
Pre-match favourite Saudi Arabia's Yousef Ahmed Masrahi, the season leader, won the gold in Games record timing of 44.46secs while Abubakar Abbas of Bahrain took the silver in 45.62secs.
The other Indian in the fray, Kunhu Muhammed finished seventh in the eight-competitor field with a timing of 46.53secs.